Canadians are bullish on adopting digital wallets

Research out of Canada suggests citizens there are open to the idea of digital wallets and expect to be using them within the next five years. 61% of Canadians expect to move from physical wallets to digital wallets by 2019.

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Research out of Canada suggests citizens there are open to the idea of digital wallets and expect to be using them within the next five years.

The report, created by Rogers Communications in Ontario, said that 61% of Canadians expect to move from physical wallets to digital wallets by 2019.

The report also speculates about a generation that is growing up in a mobile-native environment. Today’s teenagers “[live and breathe] life through mobile devices and [share] an optimistic view of what’s next,” the report read.

For those natively comfortable with mobile technologies, the report suggested, digital wallets are simply a logical next step.

The digital wallets as described in the report would include credit and debit cards as well as personal ID information — the same stuff most of us keep in our physical wallets now.

Bitcoin has been a big driver of digital wallet technology, an innovation that emerged in the early days of cryptocurrencies.

Of note, too, is mobile device usage data: More than half of smartphone owners report keeping their phones within arm’s reach for about 70% of the day.

Half of Canadians already own a smartphone, and a third own a tablet.

A similar number of respondents expect mobile devices will be able to recommend a recipe, prepare a grocery list and have those items delivered to their doors in that same five-year window. A full quarter of respondents think mobile apps will allow them to communicate with their pets.

A quarter of respondents also expect to be wearing at least two connected devices (e.g. a smart watch) by 2019.